Cookbook author Sonal Ved is here to bring a gastronomic sparkle to your weekend. Try her unusual Buratta Papadi Chaat and eight-layer Dhokla Chaat, which can be made in 30 minutes.

Both these dishes are excellent starters for a family get-together and once you have all the ingredients ready, it won't take long to assemble them. 

These are two preparations from her latest and very colourful cookbook India Local: Classic Street Food Recipes, that brims with recipes for the kind of food India does best -- all varieties of wickedly tempting nashta that is found i homes or is part of the innovative street fare available at the corner of every town in our gourmet paradise land.

• Read about why Sonal embarked on the task of writing this book in Part I of this feature.

Burrata Papdi Chaat

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

For the tomato chaat

• ½ cup yoghurt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
• 1 tsp rai or mustard seeds
• 1 pinch hing or asafoetida
• 1 pinch kala or black salt
• 3 tsp minced adrak or ginger
• 2 tsp minced green chilly
• 1 pinch deggi mirch powder
• 1 cup finely chopped tomato
• 1 tps tamarind-jaggery chutney
• Salt to taste, around ½ tsp
• 1 tbsp finely chopped green dhania or coriander or cilantro leaves

For assembly

• ½ cup raw thinly sliced beeh or kamal kakdi or lotus root
• Sunflower or any neutral oil for deep frying
• 3 large burrata cheese, available in specialist cheese shops
• ½ cup tamarind-jaggery chutney (please check the recipe below)
• ½ cup mint-coriander chutney
• 12 papdis or round chaat crackers or puris
• 3 tsp chaat masala (please check the recipe below)
• Pinch salt

Method

• Whisk the yoghurt and sugar until smooth.
  Keep aside.
• Heat the ghee in a frying pan over medium heat and add the cumin seeds and the mustard seeds.
  Add a pinch of asafoetida and the black salt and cook until the seeds crackle.
  Add the minced ginger and the minced green chilly and saute for a minute.
  Stir the deggi mirch powder into the masala followed by the chopped tomato.
  Mix well and cook until the tomato is soft.
  Add a spoonful of the tamarind-jaggery chutney and cook until the whole mixture becomes a soft mush.
  This should take about 4-5 minutes.
  Season with salt and cool.
  Add coriander leaves and set aside.
• In another frying pan, deep fry the lotus root until golden brown and drain on kitchen towels.
  Sprinkle some salt on it and keep aside.
• To serve, use wide shallow bowls or plates for individual portions.
  Divide the tomato chaat into three equal parts.
• Spoon the tomato chaat into the centre of the serving bowl and place a whole burrata on top.
  Arrange the papdi around the burrata.
  Drizzle the sweet yoghurt, tamarind-jaggery chutney, and the mint-coriander chutney on the papdi and the burrata.
  Arrange the lotus root chips on each plate around the burrata chaat and finish with the chaat masala.

8-Layered Dhokla Chaat

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For layer 1 (mung)

• 1 cup boiled mung or green gram
• ½ cup freshly grated coconut
• 1 tsp roasted jeera or cumin powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp chaat masala (please check the recipe given below)
• Salt to taste

For layer 2 (dhokla)

• 1 tsp oil
• ½ tsp rai or mustard seeds
• 1 tsp white sesame seeds
• 2 curry patta or curry leaves
• 1 cup grated yellow dhokla
• ½ tbsp chopped green dhania or coriander or cilantro leaves
• Juice of ½ a neebu or lemon
• 1 tbsp nylon sev

For layer 3 (potato)

• ½ cup boiled and finely chopped potatoes
• 2 tbsp grated beetroot
• 1 tsp red chilly powder
• 1 tsp chaat masala
• 1 tsp amchur or dry mango powder
• 1 tsp roasted jeera or cumin powder
• 1 pinch haldi or turmeric powder

For layer 4 (mathri)

• 1 cup mathri or a flaky fenugreek-flavoured biscuit (available at grocery stores or online)
• ½ cup finely chopped onion
• ½ cup finely chopped tomato
• 1 green chilly, finely chopped
• ½ tsp chaat masala 

For layer 5 (yoghurt)

• ½ cup hung yoghurt or curd
• 1 cup yoghurt
• 2 tsp red chilly powder
• 1 pinch amchur or dry mango powder
• 1 tsp sugar syrup or powdered sugar

For layer 6 (meetha)

• 1 tbsp pomegranate arils or seed pods
• ½ tsp sweet boondi (optional)

For layer 7 (chutney)

• ½ cup green chilly–coriander chutney (please check the recipe below)
• ½ cup date–tamarind chutney (please check the recipe below)

For layer 8 (garnish)

• 1 tbsp finely chopped green dhania or coriander or cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp finely chopped pudina or mint leaves
• ½ tsp roasted and crushed saunf or fennel seeds

Method

• Arrange your ingredients and bowls on the kitchen counter before starting.
  For layers 1, 3, 5, 6, and 8, use individual bowls and combine the ingredients for each.
  Keep aside.
• To make the dhokla layer, heat a tsp of oil in a frying pan and add the mustard seeds, sesame seeds, curry leaves.
  Once they begin to crackle, add the grated dhokla and toss well in the tadka.
  Sprinkle with coriander leaves, lemon juice, and the sev.
  Keep aside.
• To make the mathri layer, break it into bite-sized pieces with your fingers.
  Toss in a bowl with the onions, tomatoes, green chilly, chaat masala.
• To assemble, you will need a deep, tall bowl or jar with a wide mouth.
  Layer the bottom of the jar with the green gram mixture, followed by the grated dhokla.
  Continue adding each layer to the jar in the order given.
  Serve with a long spoon that can reach the bottom of the jar.

Sonal's Note: For the chaat masala, combine 1 tbsp jeera or cumin seeds, 1 tbsp dhania or coriander seeds, 1 tbsp ajwain or carom seeds and 1 tsp black peppercorns in a pan and place them over low heat.
Dry roast the spices until fragrant. Keep aside to cool.Place the cooled spices in a mixer-grinder and grind to a fine powder.
Add 1 tbsp amchur or dry mango powder and ¼ tsp adrak or ginger powder, ½ tsp kala or black salt and ¼ tsp hing or asafoetida, and grind again.
Store in an airtight jar.

For the green chilly-coriander chutney, grind 2 cups roughly chopped fresh green dhania or coriander or cilantro leaves, 2 tsp roughly chopped green chillies, ½ tsp jeera or cumin seeds, pinch hing or asafoetida, ½ tsp dhania or coriander powder, with 2 tbsp water to make a smooth paste.
Season to taste with salt.
Transfer into a bowl and add ½ tsp chaat masala and 1 tsp lemon juice.

For the date-tamarind chutney, set a pan of ½ cup water to boil over medium heat and add 1 cup dates, seeded and finely chopped dates, ½ cup de-seeded tamarind, and ½ cup crumbled gud or jaggery.
Mix well and allow it to come to a boil, approximately 3-4 minutes.
Keep aside to cool before blending into a smooth thick paste.
Strain the chutney through a fine sieve, discarding the debris.
Add 1 tsp jeera or cumin and 2 tsp red chilly powder along with a pinch of salt and stir through.
Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the tamarind-jaggery chutney, heat 1 tsp sunflower oil in a kadhai over medium heat and add 1 tsp ajwain or carom and 1 tsp saunf or fennel seeds.
Once the seeds begin to crackle, add the 2 tsp dry ginger, 2 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp red chilly powder and mix well.
Stir in ¼ cup crumbled jaggery and ½ cup tamarind pulp and continue cooking for 4 to 5 minutes, until it reduces by half.
Sprinkle 2 tsp chaat masala and 1 tsp black salt and mix through.
Slowly add 1/3 cup hot water to the chutney, stirring continuously, until it is runny but not too thin.
Season to taste with salt and serve when cool.

Excerpted from India Local: Classic Street Food Recipes by Sonal Ved, with the kind permission of the publishers Roli Books.